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An Examination of Quality of Life and Communication Confidence in Aphasia Through Telehealth Communication Groups

Sparacino_unr_0139M_12304.pdf

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Abstract

This research paper explores the use of web-based communication groups to improve quality of life and communication confidence for people with aphasia with the use of a videoconferencing medium called Zoom. There is growing evidence in the literature that it is important to take the aforementioned factors into account to promote positive therapeutic outcomes for people with aphasia (Babbitt, Heinemann, Semik, & Cherney, 2011; Worrall & Holland, 2008). Ten people with nonfluent aphasia participated. Participants were administered the Communication Confidence Rating Scale for Aphasia (CCRSA) to assess for communication confidence and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Quality of Communication Life Scale (ASHA QCL) to assess for quality of life before and after participating in 12 sessions of web-based social communication groups for 3 weeks. A paired samples t-test with the use of descriptive statistics revealed significant improvements to overall CCRSA and ASHA QCL scores, as well as individual scores for 3 participants on the CCRSA and 2 participants on the ASHA QCL. Additionally, participants were given a User Satisfaction Survey following completion of communication groups, in which ease of use for Zoom for web-based communication groups was rated highly.